1.1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the fields of protein chemistry and hematology. More particularly, the invention discloses novel compositions comprising solid-phase, i.e., bound, forms of immunologically-active Rh antigen. Also disclosed are diagnostic kits and devices for the detection and quantitation of Rh antibodies in clinical and non-clinical samples. In another aspect, the invention relates to devices, compositions and methods for the isolation, identification, quantitation, and purification of anti-Rh antibodies from solution.
1.2 Description of the Related Art
1.2.1 Rh Antigens
The Rh blood group system is one of the most complex polymorphisms in humans. Human red blood cells (RBCs) may be subdivided into Rh.sup.+ and Rh.sup.- groups according to the presence or absence of the major Rh blood group antigen, Rhesus D (Rh.sub.o D) (Cartron and Agre, 1993). Several genes have been implicated as encoding the major Rh antigen epitopes, D, C, c, E, and e, while a host of others are speculated to be involved in the determinants of a host of rare alleles.
Rh antigens, including Rh.sub.o D, are carried on an integral membrane protein which has a molecular weight of approximately 30 kDa (Moore et al., 1982; Gahmberg, 1982; 1983). This protein has been implicated in the molecular adhesion of the submembranous cytoskeleton to the erythrocyte cell membrane (Ridgwell et al., 1984), and persons lacking the proteins exhibit Rh Deficiency Syndrome, accompanied by varying degrees of hemolytic anemia (Marsh, 1983).
Paradis et al. (1986) demonstrated that the presence of the cytoskeleton in isolated Rh.sub.o, D antigen preparations served as a protective effect on the immunologic activity of the Rh antigen.
1.2.2 Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn (HDN)
The RBC antigen system in humans is the basis for the disease called Hemolytic Disease of the Fetus/Newborn. This disorder is manifested when an Rh.sup.- woman becomes pregnant by an Rh.sup.+ man. The fetus is statistically likely to be Rh.sup.+ and during gestation or at birth, Rh.sup.+ fetal RBC can enter the maternal circulation and the woman then has a high probability of developing an anti-Rh antibody response against the transferred RBC. In subsequent pregnancies, the IgG form of the antibody crosses the placenta and enters the fetal circulation where it binds to fetal Rh.sup.+ RBC and thereby causes them to be rapidly removed from circulation in liver and spleen. The first child is rarely affected since the mother has not yet developed the antibodies, but all subsequent fetuses are at risk for disease if the mother is not appropriately treated.
The current treatment for this condition is strictly preventive. The strategy is to attempt to keep the woman from initially developing anti-Rh antibodies. This is done by administering 300 .mu.g of an immunoglobulin (Ig) preparation that contains anti-Rh antibodies at 28 weeks of gestation and again within 72 hr of birth. This is highly effective in preventing the disease when the patient comes in early for prenatal care. Unfortunately, large numbers of women do not obtain proper prenatal care for various reasons and go on to develop strong anti-Rh immune responses. For these women, in utero transfusion of the fetus under ultrasound guidance is the only current treatment available for high-risk cases when the woman has previously developed a strong immune response against the Rh antigen. Because eighty-five percent of the Caucasian population is Rh.sup.+, a considerable number of women and their offspring are potentially at risk for contracting the disease.
1.2.3 Attempts To Isolate Active Solid-Phase Rh Antigen Have Failed
Unfortunately, attempts to isolate active Rh antigen have been disappointing, and no successful attempts at preparing bound forms of the antigen have been reported.
Indeed, a definitive review (Agre and Cartron, 1991) reported that Rh antigenic activity was lost after membranes are solubilized or transferred onto immunoblot membranes, and most biochemical methods therefore actually kill the antigenic activity that identifies and defines the Rh antigen.
Moore et al. (1982) and Plapp et al. (1979) each reported isolation of small amounts of Rh antigen after affinity chromatography of deoxycholate solubilized RBC. Plapp et al. (1979) solubilized the cells in deoxycholate, added the mixture to an affinity column made of immobilized anti-Rh antibodies and eluted the bound fraction. The resulting eluate was active in inhibition of a reaction between Rh.sup.+ RBC and antibody. Disappointingly, however, extracts from both Rh.sup.+ and Rh.sup.- cells inhibited the reaction, with the authors postulating that Rh antigen was merely "hidden" in Rh.sup.- cells.
That conclusion, however, was disproved when modem molecular biology methods conclusively showed that Rh.sub.o (D) antigen is not present in Rh.sup.- cells (Agre and Cartron, 1991), and that the Rh antigen polypeptides had molecular weights of between 28 and 32 kDa (Agre and Cartron, 1991). Clearly the 7 kDa polypeptide reported by Plapp and coworkers could not be the Rh antigen polypeptide. Moore et al. (1982) surface-labeled RBC with .sup.125 I, reacted the labeled cells with anti-Rh antibodies, washed the cells and dissolved them in deoxycholate. This was passed over a protein A-Sepharose column and complexes were isolated after elution. Although they were successful in detecting Rh antigen in acrylamide gel separations of eluted complexes by autoradiography, the amount of Rh protein isolated by their method was too low to provide definitive analysis of Rh protein. In fact, the quantities were so small, that no inhibition assays could be performed to ascertain the activity and integrity of the isolated protein.
A report in 1986 suggested that minor amounts of Rh antigen could be isolated in soluble form (Paradis et al., 1986), but unfortunately, this method, too, provided a limited quantity of Rh antigen, and the preparation was contaminated with cytoskeleton components. Attempts by workers in the field to repeat the method for isolation of large-quantities of active Rh antigen were unsuccessful, as were attempts to couple the soluble form of the antigen to various solid-phase supports and maintain antigenicity of the preparation when adsorbed to solid-phase matrices such as ELISA plates, nitrocellulose, plastic beads, Sepharose, etc. using standard methodologies.
1.2.4 Unavailability of Solid-Phase Rh Antigen Has Limited Hematology
The unavailability of solid-phase (or bound) Rh antigen compositions, and the lack of ability of using contemporary immunoassay methodologies such as ELISA and solid-phase antigen assays have confounded the field of hematology for many decades.
Because of these limitations, and because no assays for anti-Rh antibodies exist except for time-consuming, cumbersome, non-quantitative RBC agglutination assays, the fields of hematology, obstetrics and neonatology are severely lacking in this important regard. The shortcomings of the present methodologies in the area are many.
First, the results are reported as a titer (i.e. the highest dilution of the serum in question that gives a standard degree of agglutination). It is commonly understood in the field that titer results are highly subjective depending on who reads the result. Variations of .+-.1 tube are accepted variations due to this subjectivity. Further, it is commonly known that a given serum can be given to two different individuals or two different laboratories and the reported titers can be dramatically different. Even if reporting of titers was absolute, the doubling dilutions used would mean that reported results potentially have almost 100% error inherent.
For example, suppose that 5 .mu.g/ml antibody would yield an agglutination titer of 1:32. This would mean that the patient would need to have 10 .mu.g/ml to yield a titer of 1:64. Thus, an amount of antibody of 9.5 .mu.g/ml would be reported as a 1:32 titer because only 2-fold dilutions are made. The higher the antibody concentration, the greater the discrepancy becomes, i.e., if the titers were reading 200 versus 400 .mu.g/ml, a concentration of 390 that is interpreted as 200 is greatly under reported by titering.
1.3 Deficiencies in the Prior Art
The isolation of active Rh antigen polypeptides, and in particular, the Rh.sub.o D antigen-bearing polypeptide, in large quantity has eluded scientists for more than half a century. That it has not been possible to isolate, store, and immobilize antigenically- (or serologically-) active blood group antigens, and in particular Rh antigen, represents a significant limitation in the medical arts. Because of the unavailability of large amounts of antigenically-active blood group antigen proteins, it has been impossible to develop improved assays and methods for identifying, isolating and purifying specific antibodies which recognize these antigens. Likewise, the unavailability of bound forms of serologically-active blood group antigens has prevented the development of affinity matrices comprising blood group antigens such as Rh antigens, ELISA methodologies specific for these antigens, and devices for the inline purification and removal of anti-blood group antibodies from solution. Because of the impossibility of isolating antigenically-active Rh antigens in quantity using conventional methods, development of such methods and compositions have never been available. Moreover, because no method currently exists for the isolation of antigenically-active Rh antigens, and in particular D antigen, all current analytical procedures in hematology must rely on the availability of intact RBCs. Standard blood bank practice relies on doing agglutination assays using defined RBC and patient serum.
During clinical management of previously alloimmunized patients, critical treatment decisions often depend on a combination of symptoms and laboratory results. Knowledge of the level of anti-D antibody can be crucially important in determining the management strategy for such patients. Unfortunately, there is a wide variation in the results of the doubling dilution titers reported by laboratories. A recent survey of laboratories was done by the College of American Pathologists to determine the uniformity of results reported for a single standard anti-D serum (College of American Pathologists, 1996). In the survey, 1641 participants were given the same anti-D serum and were asked to report titers. Titer scores varied widely with results ranging between titers of 1:2 and 1:2048. Titers of 1:32 or 1:64 were reported by 59.5% of participants and a titer range of 1:16 to 1:128 was reported by 86% of participants. Thus, 14% of laboratories reported titers below 1:16 or above 1:128 for the identical sample. Such results dramatically illustrate the well-known variability of the doubling dilution agglutination titer method of anti-Rh antibody measurement currently in use in the medical community and underline the urgent need for development of a quantitative assay method for Rh blood group antigens, and D antigen in particular.
Therefore, what is lacking in the prior art is the availability of antigenically-active blood group antigens, and in particular Rh antigens such as the D antigen. Also lacking are methods for the isolation and maintenance of such antigens in serologically-active forms both soluble and bound. What is needed is the availability of quantitative analyses and methods for the determination of Rh antigens in solution, identification and quantitation of anti-Rh antibodies, and methods and diagnostic kits for the ready determination of both antigen and antibodies specific for blood group antigens such as Rh antigens, and in particular D antigen. Such methods and compositions would provide a revolutionary advance in the medical arts, particularly in the areas of hematology, blood banking, transfusion medicine, obstetrics, and neonatology, and would permit fabrication of devices and apparatus useful for the isolation and purification of anti-Rh antibodies from solution. Such apparatus would be particularly useful in treatment of disorders such as hemolytic disease of the newborn.